Which saddle for large shouldered hunter?

[jomoomin]

Can anyone recommend a decent saddle that allows free movement for a big/deep shouldered IDx? Current Nathaniel Barton GD is not too bad but I'm noticing a reluctance for extension....on closer inspection point of shoulder comes back to under stirrup bars....can see why that wouldn't bee too comfy for my boy!!!!

Saddler recommends Falcon Event but as I do a bit of everything is there anything else worth considering - trainer recommends Kay Humphries but heard some negative feedback on hers (but also some good but more bad)

 

[Orangehorse]

My horse has large shoulders. When he was first broken in I bought a synthetic saddle, but that soon didn't fit. My usual saddler brought out all sorts of saddles and none would fit as they were all full panels. We happened to have a talk by a saddler and I ended up buying a Humphries and Swain saddle and now I have 2. They are flocked with wool and have a serge lining, but most important is that they have the Owen panel, which is a half panel which sits behind the shoulder, like a very old fashioned hunting saddle. Unlike the old fashioned saddle they have a large leather panel for the girth straps to rest against.

I have never heard anything bad about Kay, except that she is hard to get hold of. I was pleased to hear that she is considering running some courses for saddle fitters.

 

[Gleeful Imp]

The bay in my siggy has huge shoulders. We had an ideal worker made to measure for him which really frees the shoulder but I also have a thorogood - the leather one which I was very very surprisd by how much I liked it (so was my instructor!).

 

[Kokopelli]

My old horse TB xWelsh had very high withers and very wide shoulders so when we had teh saddler out the only saddle that fitted was the thorowgood T6. Its cheap doesn't restrict and you can get in leather or synthetic. Very comfy aswell

 

[sunshine19]

My section D has huge shoulders. The only saddle that fitted him perfectly was Ideal H&C Apex

 

[ISHmad]

We have an ISH with huge shoulders and like Orangehorse also have a serge lined Humphries & Swain saddle for him. It fits him a treat and he works really nicely in it.

 

[arizonahoney]

I also have a thorogood - the leather one which I was very very surprisd by how much I liked it (so was my instructor!).

That's the Kent and Masters saddle - I have the high wither version for my cob who has big shoulders and it seems to be working out pretty well so far.

 

[EQUISCENE]

I struggled to get an off the peg saddle to fit a large shouldered ISH and luckily found All saddle solutions who custom made me a fab saddle, cannot recommend them enough. Excellent service, good quality product and competively priced at around £1000 well worth it!
http://www.allsaddlesolutions.com/